Advanced Power Management 2-15
MX2A137REFGD Revision A MX2 Reference Guide
Advanced Power Management
The MX2 uses advanced power management (APM) to provide the
longest battery life. Control of the APM features is provided in the
PM.COM
utility on drive B of each MX2.
This section provides additional information for getting the most power
life out of an MX2 RF unit using the RangeLAN2 wireless LAN PC
card.
Batteries
For RF units, LXE recommends the use of fully charged batteries. In
general, an MX2 with an RF card should be able to get through a normal
8-hour shift before the batteries need to be replaced or recharged.
Doze Mode
After 8 seconds without a keypress, scanner input, or other system
activity, the MX2 goes into a power-saving state known as doze mode.
To maximize battery life, especially in an RF environment, try to avoid
accidental or unnecessary pressing of the keypad keys.
Auto-Off Timer
After a predetermined time without any system activity, the unit
automatically shuts off. The default auto-off timeout is 5 minutes. To
maximize battery life, you can set the timeout to a much shorter period.
Appendix C includes bar codes that provide auto-off settings as low as
20 seconds. You can also use the PM.COM utility to set the auto-off
timer.
Backlight
Use of the display backlight severely affects battery life in the MX2. For
RF applications, do not use the backlight unless it is absolutely
necessary. If you do need to use it, you can change the display’s auto-off
timer to a setting lower than the default (15 seconds).
